The fall of

The Region

The fall of Richardson

By Craig Skehan

BIZARRE happenings in the smattering of Micronesian atolls of the Marshall Islands Republic have brought down the most powerful Australian cabinet minis ter. It was not so much Richardson’s ministerial responsibility for transport and communications policy that made him powerful, as his well earned repu tation as both king-maker and slayer.

Richardson, as leader of the right-wing faction of the Australian Labour Party, twice played a key role in the change over of the Labour leadership, first from Bill Hayden to Bob Hawke and more recently from Hawke to Paul Keating.

As a polititical fixer, Richardson has long been part of a tribal Labour culture in which you ‘look after your mates’. It was an old school and Labour mate,

Sydney businessman Gregory Symons,

who arrived in the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro in July last year with a briefcase containing the outline of a grand scheme.

The idea was to have Chinese invesgtors from Taiwan and Hong Kong finance a SUS4O million technology and education complex in Majuro in return for Marshall Islands passports.

In April this year, Marshall Islands

attorney general Dennis McPhillips

claimed the Chinese were misled into believing Marshall Islands passports would give them immediate entry into the United States, when in fact there was

a five-year waiting period for foreigners

taking up local citizenship.

Then came the political bombshell.

McPhillips opposed Symons being al ;ow'ed to return to Australia to work on his legal defence on the grounds that there was no bilateral extradition treaty n existence and Symons had powerful :ontacts in Australia. The attorney general presented in court a glowing 'eference from Richardson that Symons lad used in Majuro to promote his nvestment scheme. “It is my under itanding this particular minister is one of he most powerful ministers in the

Australian government,” McPhillips

old chief justice Neil Rutledge. “He vields great powder.”

Then it was later revealed that on April 6 when Symons was in court,

lichardson had personsally telephoned

he President of the Marshall Islands,

Amata Kabua, asking that Symons be

dlowed to leave the country.

Back in Canberra, Federal Opposition eader John Hewson went on the attack

over Richardson s claim that he was acting personally in calling the President and not as an Australian government representative. The Australian Oppo sition also picked holes in Richardson’s claim that he had not been aware of Symons’ business activities, including the Marshall Islands scheme, when he wrote the reference. Some clever investigative reporting by the Australian media showed that Symons had in 1989 gone into voluntary bankruptcy, with debts of nearly SAI.S million, but later secured official export assistance grants.

Richardson said he had not been aware of the bankruptcy or the grants. But a report on his relations with Symons

demanded by Keating revealed that assistance by Richardson’s office for Symons had gone further than previously stated. This help extended to represen tations to the Australian Embassy in Fiji for a visa for a Taiwanese man connected to the Marshall Islands scheme.

Richardson resigned from the ministry rather than suffer the indignation of being sacked. The story dubbed ‘The Marshall Islands Affair’ had dominated the Australian media for more than a week.

Back in the Marshall Islands, the sorry episode is also causing waves. In court, during a preliminary hearing which determined the charges against Symons should go to trial, defence attorney Strauss attempted to subpoena leading officials and acting Marshall Islands President Kunio Lemari. He contends the Marshall Islands government had effectively sanctioned a range of illegal passport selling operations. Strauss says in one case there was even an official send-off for seven Chinese who were subsequently detained and had their passports taken by US immigration officials at Honolulu Airport. There have also been claims in court that senior Marshall Islands officials now giving evidence against Symons were previously paid thousands of dollars by Symons to act as consultants.

Symons, 43 years old but with boyish good looks, said, in Majuro, he deeply regretted the impact of events on Richardson, who is his wife’s cousin.

With a trial expected to begin in August, there is scope for further revelations, and

political spin-offs Down-Under. □

Graham Richardson: king-maker and slayer